Despite committing 38 unforced errors, unseeded Henman played well but was no match for the Wimbledon champion.

You can't really afford to give him the start I did

Tim Henman

Federer broke Henman in the second game of the match and pressurised the Briton's serve throughout the first set.

In the second set, Federer grabbed a 5-2 advantage before Henman scored his only break of the match to trim the lead to 5-3.

He could not capitalise, however, and Federer served out the set.

Henman, 31, improved his play in the final set but a loose service game allowed Federer to take a 6-5 lead before the Swiss served out the two-hour, two-minute match to love.

The Briton admitted that his poor start to the match gave Federer an immediate initiative.

"You can't really afford to give him the start I did because he's got enough confidence and he's playing at such a high level, he certainly doesn't need any help from me," said Henman, who was nevertheless upbeat about his own performance.

"I might have lost today but in actual fact the way I felt on court in certain instances, the way I was playing, there's some positive stuff in there.

"While I still have this mentality and I'm enjoying the challenge then I'm going to keep playing and have some fun."

Federer said: "The conditions were tough today, breezy, chilly. Henman was trying to kind of break the rhythm, as usual.

"So it makes it hard to really play well and get the good rhythm going. I think it could have been easier, but it could also been tougher."